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Board hears property dispute arguments By ANDIE LEATHERMAN, LTN Staff Writer Feb.22, 2002 - A 24-home subdivision is planned for Boger City, but if some neighbors have their way, developers will first settle a property dispute, save some trees and preserve a graveyard. Some neighbors question are questioning the property lines on the land located off Highland Drive. During Tuesday’s planning board meeting, neighbor Wayne Avery called the deed a “floating deed” and questioned its validity. Deborah Richard Abernathy and Patricia Richard Shuford, who own the land with their brother Danny Richard, defended the deed’s validity during the meeting. The Richard family has owned the property since 1937, attorney Todd Wulfhorst told the board. Wulfhorst represents Troy Motz and Kenneth Tucker who plan to build the subdivision. “As far as Mr. Avery thinking things are not right with the property, he’ll have to think again,” Shuford said to the board. “Our father knew everything about the deed. He walked that line off weekly,” Abernathy said. City officials say that questions over the deed are outside the municipality’s scope. “It’s between the owner and developer. They have to fight that as a court case,” said Mark Carpenter, city zoning administrator. The planning board unanimously approved the subdivision request but added a requirement that the developer determine if a cemetery is on the property. Some neighbors say that 12 long, narrow depressions in the ground are a graveyard. Historians are investigating the claims. If the depressions are determined to be a burial site, developers either must fence off the cemetery or work with the health department to move the bodies, city officials say. Shuford and her sister doubt the cemetery exists. “My grandfather mentioned it years ago. It was like a myth,” Shuford said. “There was no proof, there’s still no proof.” Wulfhorst said developers will follow the law. “The law is the law. We’ll comply. We want to make sure a cemetery is there before we jump through the hoops,” he said. Eddie Cooper, who lives adjacent to the proposed development, asked the planning board to require developers to leave a tree buffer between existing homes and the subdivision. City officials say buffers are not required between single family homes, regardless of whether the homes are in a development. “It would be one row instead of a forest but at least you have something,” Cooper said. In other business, the planning board approved a conditional use permit that will allow Gateway Construction to build a 28 unit residential development for the elderly and handicapped. The proposed project is located at the intersection of Boggs Street and Salem Church Road. The $2.4 million project will be brick and concrete. The planning board’s decisions are non-binding recommendations. City council will vote on both projects during the March 7 meeting. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. It is held in the city council chambers of City Hall, located on West Sycamore St.
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© 2001 Lincoln Times-News |
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